New Top Gear Review

Daniel Simms2 Comments

One of BBC’s flagship shows has finally returned to our screens. Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc replace Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May as Top Gear presenters. The interest in how they’d do has been intense as the shadow of the three departing hosts looms large. At last, we have some answers.

The show pulls no punches in the opening segment. Evans and Sabine Schmitz (a German female driver) head to the actual Top Gun facility in America. Cue movie quotes galore, one of which Sabine gets comically incorrect, and two co-pilots. Their job is to control a laser guided targeted system attached to Evans’ and Schmitz’s cars.

It was Dodge Viper versus Corvette Z06, and while the concept was fun, it becomes clear early on this new Top Gear is going to be very scripted and staged. “Hit the brakes and fly right by,” the famous quote used to avoid a lock-on. Without proper planning, two supercars would have been written off.

That’s not to say the old show wasn’t planned but it always felt natural. That lack of organic feel becomes evident once Evans and LeBlanc share screen time together. At this moment there isn’t a spark between them. It may come over time, and there’s enough promise to suggest they deserve the chance.

This week’s theme was USA v UK and was decided by driving Robin Reliants to Blackpool, a series of challenges (standard dragging Ice Cream vans around stuff), climaxing in Jeeps hauling the Reliants to the top of a hill. The main thing to take away from it is how much Matt LeBlanc looks like Ross Kemp if you put him in a helmet and goggles.

Breaking up the challenge was LeBlanc in a buggy skipping around Morocco. Again, it was a decent feature but the stunt at the end was pure script and felt out of place.

The show has justification sticking to the tried and tested formula. Star in a Reasonably Priced Car got an upgrade. It’s now a Mini and there’s an off-road section in the track. Gordon Ramsey and Jesse Eisenberg the first to take the new layout. But sticking to the old way too closely leaves Top Gear feeling dated.

Evans has said the show isn’t in competition with Clarkson and Co.’s The Grand Tour, and with good reason. They will never go head-to-head and The Grand Tour’s £140m budget dwarfs BBC’s own production. But what it does is highlight how “New” Top Gear now feels old.

It doesn’t help when Evans is sat in cars trying to do a Clarkson impression. He has enough natural charisma and presenting experience to avoid this. The problem is worsened by LeBlanc’s blandness. It could be seen as a cynical move having the American on the show just to increase its export value.

Overall the show just got a lick of paint when it’s clear it needed the type of overhaul Matt LeBlanc’s Robin Reliant required.

Based on the Top Gun section and the potential, it gets 6/10.

The Revenant – Review

Daniel Simms2 Comments

For the second movie review running the delightful Tom Hardy graces the screen. But The Revenant is a Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle. All plaudits and attention have gone to him. After all the hype, thousands of memes fighting to ensure he bagged an Oscar, the dust has settled. What remains in the cold light of day raises a few problems.

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director and screenwriter, hasn’t done a bad job. Let’s get that out of the way. The criticisms that follow are more down to the burden of the film’s own hype. It’s a visual feast and he has captured the harshness of the environment. At times it is a moving canvas. Sadly, a picture here doesn’t paint a thousand words. It just fills in some time before Leo rolls around in the snow and/or dirt again.

That brings us to the leading man. Before we go on, he didn’t deserve an Academy Award for this performance. Yeah, yeah, he did deserve one on his mantelpiece at some point. But not in this turn. At times the suspension of belief asks too much. At others he mumbles through plot holes. Like, literally.

After being mortally wounded after the famous bear scene (I’m sure you’ve all seen the publicity surrounding it) he is left unable to speak (took a nasty scrape to the throat). But he did manage to muster some words for his son when an emotional scene required it. Then he was silent again for an hour.

He also musters up energy when seconds previous he couldn’t raise an eyebrow. It made me raise mine. Numerous other scenes had the same effect. He fell off a mountain but survived the fall thanks to a tree and then copied Han Solo’s survival techniques from the Empire Strikes Back‘s Hoth scene, a whole 160 years before that movie had made its way to cinema screens.

Pointing fun at the film is the only way to not feel saddened at a missed opportunity.

This could have been a modern day Deliverance. Instead it is a film only powerful at times, at others it is more vacuous than the landscape it is set in.

And like his effort in Legend, Tom Hardy once again has a stellar performance overlooked. Last time it was down to a poor script. This time the story is better, but the focus all wrong.

It’s rating is based on the touching scenes, the moral of connection through adversity, Hardy’s contribution, and the visual delights.

7/10

Legend (2015) – Review

Daniel SimmsLeave a comment

Everyone loves a gangster flick. The Americans have a plethora to choose from. It’s debatable if Goodfellas bests The Godfather, or maybe Scarface is more your thing. British efforts are a bit more wide boy and in your face. So what happens if you take a real life British gangster crime story and turn it into a movie?

If you choose to dabble with the most famous of all British gangsters you are dealing with the Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie. The film you’ll end you with is The Krays from 1990. Hold yer horses, guv. What if we want to make the Krays fit into an Americanised biopic? Ah, should have said. Then you’ll end up 2015’s Legend.

Director Brian Helgeland is better known for his writing credits (L.A. Confidential) but did direct Payback (you may have missed that corker). He has taken the history of the most notorious London criminals and decided the truth shouldn’t get in the way of a good story. Unfortunately, the story of The Krays is good enough. Instead, his fictionalised version of events lacks direction and purpose.

Key moments, like the murders that eventually convicted the twins, are shoehorned into a story narrated by Emily Browning’s Frances Shea. Yeah, that’s right folks, the story is told from the perspective of a ghost whose real life interactions vary depending on which person’s account you believe.

It’s a shame to degrade her input when Browning’s performance is so strong. That is a running theme of the film, cracking performances hidden in a below average flick.

Christopher Eccleston, as always, proves what a versatile actor he is. His hunting as Scotland Yard’s Nipper Read deserved more screen time.

The true star of the show is Tom Hardy. So powerful and diverse are his turns as both twins, it has you believing two separate actors are playing the roles. His appearance here further underlines his place as one of the best performers of this generation.

If only the script could have given Hardy the platform he richly deserved. Instead the movie labours through cockney narration plastered onto a disingenuous wannabe Hollywood background. The result is something that could easily drift to TV movie, if not for the star power on display.

The story only charts the peak years of The Krays’ rule, from cutting deals with Las Vegas bosses to ruling London without opposition. Their downfall was portrayed as an inward problem rather than being taken bested.

Sadly, that sums up the film. It should have been the peak of the boys on camera, an all-star cast and decent budget. Instead it moves them into mediocrity. Often gangster films are criticised for glamorising the lifestyle. No such problem here. It looked pretty mundane through the eyes of Brian Helgeland.

Worth watching to enjoy Tom Hardy, but have a crossword puzzle or a Sudoku on the go for (the many) sections where the film stutters along.

5/10

The Leftovers – Season 2 – Episode 8

Daniel SimmsLeave a comment

So Kevin took the magic potion and fell down the rabbit hole. Watching Michael Murphy drag him away at the end of episode 7 looked like the ultimate betrayal. Virgil had then taken the “easy way out” and blew his own head off.

But wait…maybe he did it to ensure he was there on the other side to assist Kevin. We find him in a purgatory of sorts. Fans of Lost cringe. I never had a problem with that particular show and understood what happened on the island (many still don’t). Despite what naysayers spout, Lost was pretty simple and clearly laid out by the end.

The same can’t be said by this turn of events in The Leftovers. The eagle-eyed viewer will have been picking up on clues. Like the guy reported in Australia that can’t be killed. Where’s Kevin’s dad again? Oh, and he pops up in this episode through some mystic TV channelling.

Kevin dons a hitman outfit and plays this persona to assassinate a version of Patti that is the leader of a large political Guilty Remnants movement. To do so will free him. Her bodyguard is the spiritual leader Wayne, from season one.

He’s told to avoid drinking the water in the purgatory hotel they occupy. This leads to questions of metaphor. Will he pass over forever with his acceptance of thirst? Is this a flash dream before death really occurs?

The answers are being drip-fed as the questions stack up.

The end of this episode is shocking and further demonstrates Justin Theroux’s acting ability.

Some may not like this turn used by the writers, I have zero complaints. It has made a great season become a classic.

9/10

Maggie – Review

Daniel SimmsLeave a comment

It’s great to see Arnold Schwarzenegger back in movies. It’s even better to see he’s willing to step out of his comfort zone and assume different roles. On the face of it Maggie, a zombie horror, shouldn’t be too much of a change. But this isn’t a rehashed action flick for the goth generation. At its heart it’s a drama. But does it work?

In the movie’s early sequence we see Arnie bash a zombie to death, at this point you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a disguised action flick. That soon peters out and director Henry Hobson enters indie flick territory.

It gives the story a chance for scene setting. Zombies are actually infected with the necroambulist virus. It gives those unfortunate enough to have it a period of grace. There’s no bite from the undead and quick trip to zombieville. In fact, the zombies are kind of portrayed as crazy, mindless cannibals. That are, well, just like zombies.

Arnie knows his daughter, the title of the movie, played by Abigail Breslin, is on borrowed time. So he intends to saviour every last moment. Unfortunately for the viewer, the director also wants to saviour every last moment. And so he drags out her final days as if we are living them with her. Those days feel like years.

Arnie has the option of handing her over when the time is drawing close, placing someone in quarantine removes the danger they possess. Or he can finish the job himself. Obviously neither of these appeal to the devoted father.

What follows is his desire to hang on to someone that is inevitably going to die. These moments are touching, and really well acted by the former Mr Universe. Expressing the sort of range he’ll need now his action days are (should) be nearing their end.

Breslin for her part is faultless. She knows she’s doomed and his horrified when stepmother Joey Richardson isn’t cooking downstairs but she smells food. It’s the stepmother that smells like fresh meat.

There’s a scene with a former crush of sorts that helps fill in some of the backstory around the virus and why the camps are so bad but by this point you’re hoping Arnie gets the job done and puts Maggie to rest.

Indie films are great and give makers a chance to explore outside of mainstream requirements. Here, we had a great concept and fine performances. But a film about dying needed an injection of life. Arnie will be back, hopefully next time the story will be better.

5/10